Tour description

This Medieval villages cycling tour is a perfect way to explore the quieter and less traveled areas of this fascinating region of Catalonia.

The tour starts in Girona city and winds its way gently through the undulating and ever-changing scenery of the Baix Emporda. All of the cycling takes place on quiet country roads that are part of the Baix Emporda Cycle Network. The network has been developed to allow cyclists to fully enjoy the splendors of this area.

The tour follows the cycling network for 5 nights and finishes in the charming medieval village of Monells. Your luggage will be transported for you from hotel to hotel so you can relax and enjoy the cycling to its fullest. The accommodation provided is 2-, 3-, and 4-star hotels, including breakfast with your stay. Hotels are dependent upon availability.

Each day’s ride is approximately 25 miles/40 km and covers terrain that is mostly flat with rolling hills, so you can pace yourself to stop and enjoy the views. Each day, after arriving at your hotel, there are plenty of great cycling options to explore the local areas further. These rides range from 12-25 miles/20-40 km, so if you have enough energy to see a little more then each area is well worth exploring. You will be provided with detailed maps and route plans to help you on your way.

Each day from your hotels you will explore the beautiful scenery of the Baix Emporda region of Catalonia, cycling the selected highlights of the well-signposted bike trail network. Additionally, you will cycle a variety of stunning rides that will clearly explain why this area of Europe is renowned as a cyclist’s paradise!

The rest of the tour follows the well-marked "Baix Emporda Cycle Network" that utilizes quiet country lanes and back roads that are almost completely free from traffic. The road surfaces are a mix of hard packed gravel and tarmac. The terrain is again mostly flat with few hills to climb. Luggage is transported from hotel to hotel.

The Medieval Villages tour is our easiest tour and is well within the reach of almost all cycling abilities. In addition, it is a beautiful route that encompasses spending time exploring Girona city by the Mediterranean Sea as well as cycling through the timeless medieval villages of the Baix Emporda region of Catalonia, Spain.

NOTE: During the months of July and August, this tour extends to a 7-night program (6 nights is not optional during these months). Please see the Daily Program for the detailed itinerary.

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Daily program

NOTE: During the months of July and August, this tour extends to a 7-night program (6 nights is not optional during these months). See below for this change.

Day 1: Girona
Individual arrival. Explore the medieval center of this beautiful city.
Overnight in Girona.

Day 2: Girona to the Mediterranean Sea (25 miles/40 km)
10am Tour Briefing and Bike Setup in your Hotel in Girona city. Cycling from Girona city to Sant Feliu de Guixols by the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Riding the ‘Carrilet’ – the converted railway that is now a dedicated cycleway, from Girona to the coast. Optional extra ride: Exploring the coastal area of Sant Feliu de Guixols to Cala Sa Conca (13 miles/20 km)
Overnight in Sant Feliu de Guixols.

*NOTE: During July and August, you will have an additional day at this point in the program. You will enjoy a stunning coastal ride from Sant Feliu to Tossa de Mar and back to Sant Feliu de Guixols for another overnight. (31 miles/50km)

Day 5: Llafranc to Monells (25 miles/40 km)
Meander through the charming medieval villages of the Baix Emporda.
Overnight in Monells.

Day 6: Monells loop ride (25 miles/40 km)
Explore more of the Medieval villages following the Baix Emporda cycle network with a visit to the castle that Salvador Dali built for his wife, Gala.
Overnight in Monells.

Day 7: Departure to Girona city (19 miles/30 km)
Return to Girona with the option to cycle up and over the challenging and stunning 'Els Angels' monastery route that is one of the favorite road rides for the professional riders based in Girona. Lodging in Girona is not included but is available as an extra night. End of tour and individual departure.

Surface and terrain

The Medieval Villages tour has mostly flat riding with few hills. The route starts from Girona city to Sant Feliu de Guixols by the Mediterranean Sea along the "Carrilet" - the old converted railway that is now a dedicated dual use cycle and walk way and is traffic-free (except where it passes through villages). The routes continue on the Baix Emporda Cycle Network which is a network of country lanes, seafront promenades and secondary roads that are all designed to reduce the amount of cycling on roads with traffic. The surface is primarily asphalt or hard-packed gravel surface with a very easy gradient, with some sections that may be occasionally rocky, rutted or sandy, depending on recent weather conditions.

Contact us with any questions about booking and paying for your tour through BikeTours.com. We look forward to serving you!

Creative Catalonia Terms and Conditions

Our change of tour dates or cancellation rates are as follows:

30 days or more prior to the start of the tour = 75% refund for cancellation.

15 - 30 days prior to the start of the tour = 50% refund for cancellation.

7 - 15 days prior to the start of the tour = 25% refund for cancellation.

less than 7 days prior to the start of the tour = no refund for cancellation.

If you would like to change your tour dates we will do what we can to change your hotel reservations. However, if a hotel applies a cancellation charge, then this charge will have to be paid for by the client. Additionally, an administration charge of 50 Euros will be applied.

Hire Bike Terms & Conditions1) The client is responsible for paying for mechanical damage that occurs to a hire bicycle or Garmin GPS unit, including labour and the cost of replacing damaged parts. This excludes brake and gear cables as well as inner tubes.

2) The cost for call out for the tour operator to repair a puncture on a self-guided tour is 100 Euros.

3) If a hire bicycle or Garmin GPS unit is stolen while being hired by a client, the client is responsible for the cost of replacing the bicycle.

General Terms & Conditions1) In participating in a cycling or walking holiday with the tour operator the client is aware of the fact that these activities have an inherent element of “risk”. It is obligatory that the client has checked with his or her travel insurance policy to confirm that he or she is covered to participate in the chosen activity.

2) The tour operator takes all necessary precautions to reduce the element of risk during the activity. However, due to circumstances that are impossible to foresee or control (Force Majeure*) or for negligent behaviour on the part of the participant(s), the tour operator cannot be held responsible for any accident or incident that may occur.

3) Access to any information on the the tour operator's Web Site is conditional on the acceptance of the following Legal Information. If you do not wish to accept any part of this Legal Information, you must not use our Web Site.

4) References on the Web Site to "we", "our" and "us" are references to the tour operator

5) Our Web Site DOES NOT contain all the information relevant to any holiday or travel arrangements you may book with us. In particular, all bookings are subject to our applicable booking conditions. All bookings are subject to the general information applicable in each instance. You must obtain a copy of our applicable booking conditions and this additional information together with all other relevant details relating to your chosen holiday or travel arrangements prior to making a booking with us.

6) Our booking conditions contain limitations and exclusions of our liability to any person(s) who books and/or takes any of our holidays and/or travel arrangements. Cancellation charges are payable if a booking is cancelled after it has been confirmed (see our Payment conditions).

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8) The information shown on the Web Site is updated from time to time and therefore may have changed by the time you come to book your holiday or travel arrangements. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of all such information and prices, regrettably errors do occasionally occur. You must therefore ensure you check all details of your chosen holiday or travel arrangements (including the price) at the time of booking.

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Reviews

star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullgmaclearDecember 3, 2017

Variety, history, largely off roads

I appreciated the variety in landscape, from hilly interior to craggy and beautiful coastline. The trails were varied, from slightly rough bike trails to quiet roads. Hotels were good. I went at the end of October. Some facilities were closed, but also this made things quiet which I like, and the weather was still warm. I would recommend this tour. The Creative Catalonia owners were very helpful.

Good trip

A very interesting ride along the shore of the Costa Brava and by a number od medieval towns. Generally not a difficult ride however much of the ride is on unpaved lanes and quite of bit of that is on rough roads, with sand and big rocks and large potholes. The tour company Creative Catalonia was very good. The hotels were excellent.

Off-Road Adventure

My first tour with Creative Catalonia tours, and I would consider another. I was with a group of eight friends, one who managed the Garmin about 90% of the daily routes were on off-roadway, gravel trails through beautiful countryside. Staying on route required close reading of the route maps at times. The villages toured are amazing for their age and charm. Plenty of great cafes and restaurants along the way. The arranged hotel lodging was very good.

star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullBonitaSeptember 25, 2017

Great scenery, great food & good biking trails

Our guide, Daniel with Creative Catalonia, was always aware of our safety. He was knowledgeable about the things we were seeing. If he didn't know the answer to questions, we'd often receive an email that evening containing an answer. We got to see some amazing sites. The hotels were very nice & resturants we were directed to were usually really good. He made sure that our bikes were all in good, working condition.

Responses from Biketours.com

Jim Johnson, founder and presidentFebruary 17, 2018

Thank you for your review and ratings! Daniel is great, as is the Creative Catalonia organization. I'm glad you were able to have such a positive experience with them.

Muy Bueno!

A great way to see and experience this area of Spain. The hotels were very nice to exceptional; especially the Hotel Los Arcs in Monells with its very gracious host/owner family and wonderful food. The maps and Garmin GPS made route finding almost flawless and the tour operators (Lucy and Daniel ) checked in with us during the week to see how things were going and if we needed anything. Don't miss seeing the Botanical Gardens midway through the trip on one of the loop rides; it is very well worth a visit. We have done over a dozen self-guided bike tours in Europe and this is one of the best organized and planned.

star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullOscarSeptember 9, 2017

Very interesting sights, routes could be better planned/guided

The medieval villages of Catalonia are certainly worth the visit. Beautiful and well maintained and inhabited villages, and of course the starting point in Girona old city - really beautiful places. In addition, for history lovers there are three interesting archaeological sites of ancient Iberian towns/villages on the road.
On the downside are some difficulties with cycling itself. If this tour had difficulty 1-2 on the scale 1-5, I wonder what categories 3-4 are. A very big part of the routes were "dirty roads", which as best meant steady sand roads, but as well at some places really rocky roads or soft sand. And the navigation... The Catalonian way of marking cycle routes left at quite many points room for improvement, especially those tiny little signs. But also the maps provided (piles of A4 paper sheets) meant that far too much of energy was spent on navigation instead of enjoying the cycling.
Equipment, service, accomodation: excellent.

Responses from Biketours.com

Jim Johnson, Founder and presidentFebruary 17, 2018

Dear Oscar,
Thank you for your valuable feedback, which we will pass along to the local tour company that operates the tour. In the meantime, we will also update the "Surface and terrain" information to reflect your comments.

star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullBruce KAugust 23, 2017

Terrific all the way around

Wonderful trip. The routes were well-planned and suitable for a group of six with differing levels of biking experience. The scenery was spectacular. With the garmins, following the route paths was easy. Being able to stay two nights at each hotel (all first-class) was great, giving us a feel for the places we were staying in, and the loop routes on alternating days meant we experienced something new each day, too. Lucy, the Creative Catalonia founder, was enormously helpful and easy to work with. I can't say enough about how great a time we had. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone.

star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullRegWJune 29, 2017

Fabulous family trip.

We had a group age 9 - 60 that thoroughly enjoyed this trip. You have two separate hotels where you stay for two nights each which made for a relaxing vacation. We had no problems with bikes, luggage or accommodations. The local tour company was very professional and the maps and GPS quite thorough. Make sure you know when lunch is in the area as we missed the mark once or twice and arrived for an American lunch hour to find it was siesta time. Also, you might want to verify sea views. The local tour company tries to ensure them but we arrived on a very busy week and it was a problem for our three in one room. The suggestions from Lucy (the local tour operator) were very good and she checked on us a couple of times during the trip because there was a heat wave happening that week. The sights, food and people of Spain were marvelous and I would highly recommend this trip.

star-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullstar-fullHelCJune 4, 2017

Excellent from start to finish!

This is a great introduction to the region, mixing coast and countryside, modern and ancient. We took the guided option to spare ourselves the map reading, the routes are generally well signposted but a few turnings could be tricky to spot. We've done previous tours in Tuscany I'd say the grade 2 rating is appropriate for the length of daily ride (up to 40km) plus the hills are fewer and generally shorter than the grade 2 Tuscany rides. Recommend taking the coastal walk option on day three, the botanical gardens are lovely even for a non-botanist. Bikes are very high quality, not a single problem all week, and even at a leisurely pace we were at our hotels by 4pm and able to enjoy a relaxed evening. No complaints at all, it was a great week!